🚀 go-pugleaf

Actually while I'm not going to debate your whole message, you are wrong 
about the mortgage rates being higher than 2-3 years ago.  According to 
http://www.grgmortgage.com/histori.htm which gets it's data from CMHC, 
mortgages have not been lower than the current posted rate (6.70/5 years) 
in the past 40 years.  Furthermore, banks are more aggressive now and will 
discount the rate up to 1.25% where as in the past (even recently) would 
only discount 0.5-1.0% so the rate the consumers are getting is much lower 
than it's ever been.  You can get a 1 year rate for 3.6% right now!

As far as the Ottawa market, it's certainly cooled down and homes aren't 
selling as fast but prices haven't really gone down overall.  They have 
gone down a bit but that's mostly because homes are selling more slowly now 
and buyers now have some negotiating power.  The list prices are actually 
probably higher now than they were last year (last year many homes were 
selling above list price).

Just my 2cents,
Mike

cx172@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Elat Lerner) wrote in 
<9sma3h$n16$1@freenet9.carleton.ca>:

>Eric Beauchesne wrote in the Citizen on Nov 10:
>   "Falling rates buoy housing picture"
>
>Does Eric not know that today's mortgage rates are higher than those
>of 2-3 years ago?
>
>    "Demand for new houses remains strong despite weakened economy: CMHC"
>
>Does CMHC not realize that this is a fallacy in many places including
>Ottawa?
>
>In it's report Building permits September 2000  StatCan says: 
>
>    "The value of housing permits rose a marginal 0.2% to $1.8 billion; 
>    only multi-family dwellings contributed to the gain...
>
>    Among the provinces, Western Canada accounted for September's rise 
>    in housing permits; all  provinces east of Saskatchewan 
>    posted declines."
>
>Does not sound like demand of housing is that great even outside Ottawa.
>
>Back to Eric: �
>    "Despite the skepticism of opposition critics and some economists, 
>    plunging interest rates are working their magic on a key sector 
>    of the economy, housing, easing pressure on Finance
>    Minister Paul Martin to do more to stimulate an economy many 
>    analysts argue is already in recession."
>
>    Home construction rose a surprising 12.7 per cent last month"
>
>It did? In which part of the country?
>
>    "Urban starts rose in all regions," Canada Mortgage and 
>    Housing Corp. economist Philippe Le Goff"
>
>Check the facts.
>
>    "Ted Carmichael, economist at J.P. Morgan Canada, agreed, 
>    saying "falling mortgage rates..." 
>
>Maybe if you repeat this fallacy enough times it will become 
>true?
>
>    "The pace of construction remained ahead of last year's 
>    in all major cities other than Montreal, where starts were 
>    down one per cent."
>
>According to the Ottawa Business News:
>
>    "There was a decline in Ottawa housing starts last month, 
>    when compared to October 2000"  
>
>Back to Eric:
>
>    "For a homebuyer the savings from the drop in rates this year..." 
>
>That's a little better, but it would be nice if the Citizen 
>explained that mortgage rates are still higher than they were a 
>couple of years ago.
>
>    "...as the government leaves it to the Bank of Canada to 
>    stimulate the economy."
>
>The Bank of Canada does not set mortgage rates. Doesn't Eric 
>know that?
>
>    "Central banks' ... both the European and England's 
>    central banks... U.S. Federal Reserve... Bank of Canada..."
>
>What have any of these to do with mortgage rates?????
>
>Kristin Goff continues with"                               
>    "House sales surprise Ottawa industry"
> �
>    "Mortgage rates, which have fallen to 6.9 per cent on five-year 
>    terms at major banks"
>
>You mean the 5-yr mortgage rate that "fell" from the 6.71% average 
>rate recorded by the Bank of Canada for April of 1999? 
>
>    "Resales... In October the average was $172,900 last month which 
>    was still up about 10 per cent from October, 2000."
>
>Don't know about that, but how about telling your readers that the 
>average resale home in Ottawa fetched $175,594 for the first nine 
>months of 2001. Sounds like prices are declining from where I stand.
>
>    "Mr. Knowlton said overall new home sales prices haven't 
>    declined noticeably."
>
>Oh? So they did decline? By how much?
>
>The Citizen not covered the September New House Price index published
>by StatCan on Nov 10. This report shows that new house prices moved
>up a slugish 0.1% in Toronto and 0% in Ottawa.
>
>Now is that a surprise for the "booming" housing industry? 
>--
>Donate blood
>http://www.bloodservices.ca/Ontario/Ottawa/index.html
>